>>> Netflix reports EPS in-line, revs in-line with higher than expected subs; gu

--> +8.47% after hours

Netflix reports EPS in-line, revs in-line with higher than expected subs; guides Q1 EPS and revs above consensus; guides FY18 content spend, FCF, operating margin (227.58 +7.12)
  • Reports Q4 (Dec) GAAP earnings of $0.41 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.41; revenues rose 32.6% year/year to $3.29 bln vs the $3.28 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
    • International Net sub additions 6.36 mln vs 5.05 mln guidance; Int'l rev and ASP grew 59% and 12% year over year, respectively.
    • Domestic Net Additions 1.98 mln vs 1.25 mln guidance; Domestic contribution profit increased 5% year-over-year although contribution margin of 34.4% declined both on a year-over-year and sequential basis due to higher marketing spend
    • In Q4, free cash flow amounted to -$524 million, bringing full year 2017 FCF to -$2.0 billion, at the lower end of the -$2.0 to -$2.5 billion range we had previously indicated. This was largely due to the timing of content payments, which will now occur in 2018.
  • Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.63 vs. $0.56 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $3.686 bln vs. $3.49 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
    • For Q1, we project global net adds of 6.35 million (vs. 5.0m in the year ago quarter), with 1.45m in the US and 4.90m internationally.
  • "As we wrote last quarter, our primary profit metric is operating margin and we are targeting a full year 2018 target of 10%, up about 300 basis points year over year, as in the prior year. We believe our big investments in content are paying off."
  • In 2017, average streaming hours per membership grew by 9% year-over-year. With greater than expected member growth (resulting in more revenue), we now plan to spend $7.5-8.0 billion on content on a P&L basis in 2018.
  • "In the near term, however, membership, revenue and original content spend are booming. We're growing faster than we expected, which allows us to invest more in original content than we had planned, so our FCF will be around negative $3B-4B in 2018."

Le Figaro : Carrefour investit 2,8 milliards dans le digital et supprime 2400 po

Carrefour investit 2,8 milliards dans le digital et supprime 2400 postes

INFO LE FIGARO - Le PDG du géant de la distribution, Alexandre Bompard, est fermement décidé à faire enfin prendre à Carrefour le virage du digital. Appelé au secours cet été par les actionnaires inquiets pour l'avenir du groupe, il présente mardi matin sa stratégie.
Selon nos informations, que le distributeur n'a pas souhaité commenter, le plan qu'Alexandre Bompard présentera ce mardi, baptisé «Carrefour 2022», comporte un très ambitieux volet concernant la transformation digitale du groupe et sa stratégie omnicanale. Carrefour a prévu d'investir à ce sujet 2,8 milliards d'euros en cinq ans. En rythme annuel, c'est sept fois plus qu'en 2017. De quoi permettre à l'enseigne de reprendre le «quart d'heure d'avance» qui a longtemps fait sa réputation, avant une série d'erreurs stratégiques. Contrairement à son rival Leclerc, Carrefour a ainsi tardé à ouvrir des drives, où les clients viennent chercher leurs commandes passées sur Internet. Du coup, sa part de marché dans l'e-commerce (8%) est inférieure à celle en magasins (20%).
Moins de suppressions d'emplois que prévu
Ces investissements, vitaux pour Carrefour au moment où Amazon accélère dans l'alimentaire, seront aussi consacrés à l'analyse des données des clients et porteurs de cartes de fidélité. Afin de les financer, Carrefour n'échappera pas à de sévères mesures d'économies, avec leurs conséquences sociales. Selon nos informations, le groupe a ainsi prévu la suppression de 2400 postes dans ses différents sièges dans l'Hexagone, via un plan de départs volontaires excluant des départs contraints. Ce chiffre est très inférieur à ce que craignaient les syndicats du distributeur, certains évoquant 5000, voire 10.000 emplois menacés. De quoi contribuer à rassurer les représentants des salariés, qui sont pour la plupart conscients que le distributeur n'a jamais complètement digéré sa fusion avec Promodès (en 1999) et que l'empilement des fonctions centrales est un handicap face à l'offensive des distributeurs indépendants et des pure-players de l'e-commerce.

NY Post : 50 Cent harasses Altice truck over Starz impasse

50 Cent is taking the carriage dispute between Starz and Altice to the streets — literally.
The executive producer of Starz hit “Power” recently found himself idling in his Bentley behind an Optimum service truck.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, makes the connection that the truck’s owner is “f—ing with my series” — a reference to Altice’s yanking “Power,” along with the rest of Starz’s lineup, from the cable’s company’s bundle on Jan. 1.
“I should run right in the back of this mother f—er,” he says, pulling his Bentley menacingly close to the stopped service truck.
When the truck starts moving forward, 50 Cent announces to his in-car camera, “I’m going to follow this mother f—er.”
50 Cent, who also stars in “Power,” has reason to be upset about the series being denied Altice’s near 5 million customers as the content provider and cable company persist in an impasse over cable retransmission fees.
It’s Starz’s most-watched franchise, after all, having averaged 9.3 million viewers per episode last season.
But is the Queens native, whose “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ” album peaked at No. 1 in the US Billboard 200 in 2003, using appropriate negotiating tactics?
“This behavior is reprehensible and should not be tolerated,” an Altice spokeswoman said when asked about a video of the incident, which 50 Cent posted on Instagram. “It is outrageous that a commercial dispute has led to the threat of violence against our employees.”

WSJ : Bacardi Buying Patrón Tequila In Deal Valuing Brand at $5.1 Billion

Bacardi Buying Patrón Tequila In Deal Valuing Brand at $5.1 Billion
Global rum giant will pay a premium price to get into increasingly crowded premium tequila market

Bacardi Ltd. is buying the maker of Patrón tequila in a deal that values the premium brand at $5.1 billion, said people familiar with the matter, one of the biggest liquor deals in years as rivals scramble to own more top shelf spirits.
Bacardi, best known for its namesake rum, has held a roughly 25% stake in Patrón Spirits International AG for nearly a decade, the people said. Bacardi is now buying full control with plans to distribute the Mexican-made liquor more widely and cash in on demand for high-end tequila, they added.
The two privately held companies are expected to announce the transaction as soon as Monday, the people said.
Over the last decade, global liquor makers have tried to adjust their portfolios to keep up with changing consumer tastes, especially as overall volumes fall and drinkers shift away from beer, vodka and rum. As part of that effort, producers have tried to change tequila from an inexpensive party drink to a more refined spirit comparable to a single-malt Scotch.
Patrón, which was an early entrant in the premium tequila market, is now the industry’s leader, with U.S. sales of $1.6 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor, a market research firm. However, it faces increasing competition from several brands, including ones backed by celebrities such as George Clooney and Justin Timberlake.

“Adult consumers are very interested in high-end super-premium tequilas for sipping as much as cocktails,” said Frank Coleman, senior vice president at the industry group Distilled Spirits Council. At Patrón, “they’re now starting to finish tequila in sherry casks like the scotch guys.”
U.S. volumes of super-premium tequila jumped more than 700% from 2002 to 2016, compared with a 121% rise in all tequila volumes over the same period, according to the Distilled Spirits Council.
While Patrón has bottles that retail for as little as $45, others sell for hundreds of dollars and some limited-edition versions cost thousands of dollars. It was founded in 1989 by billionaire John Paul DeJoria, the same entrepreneur behind Paul Mitchell hair products, and Martin Crowley, an architect who has since died.
After the deal, Patrón’s existing leadership is expected to continue to oversee the business, including CEO Edward Brown, the people said. Mr. DeJoria is expected to continue to be an ambassador for the brand as a chairman emeritus, they added.
Bacardi’s competitors recently bought their own premium tequila brands. In June, Diageo PLC acquired Casamigos tequila, which was co-founded by Mr. Clooney, for up to $1 billion. Pernod Ricard USA said this month it will purchase the remaining 16% of Avión tequila that it doesn’t yet own. In 2015, Diageo swapped its Bushmills Irish whiskey brand for Don Julio, previously owned by José Cuervo.
Patrón, which is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, produces more than three million cases, or 36 million bottles, each year, while Casamigos was expected to produce about 170,000 cases last year. In addition to its namesake tequila, Patrón owns Pyrat rum and distributes Ultimat vodka.
Bacardi, which dates back 156 years to its founding in Cuba, is still controlled by its founding family though it switched CEOs last year and appointed Mahesh Madhavan to run day-to-day operations. Mr. Madhavan a 20-year company veteran who took over in October.
The Bermuda-based company, which also owns Grey Goose vodka and Dewar’s Scotch, has been trying to diversify as consumers spend more on aged bourbons and whiskeys. Bacardi, currently the fifth-largest spirits company in the U.S. by value, would jump to second place if the deal goes through.

>>> Eurogroup statement on Greece

Eurogroup statement on Greece The Eurogroup welcomes the implementation of almost all of the agreed prior actions for the third review, following the staff level agreement on the policy package that was presented to the 4 December Eurogroup. Notably, the Greek authorities have adopted the 2018 State Budget which is compliant with the agreed primary surplus target of 3.5% of GDP. Moreover, the European institutions' compliance report shows that the Greek authorities have over-achieved the fiscal targets set over the last three years (2015-2017). The Greek authorities have also continued to strengthen tax collection through the Independent Authority of Public Revenue and enhanced the fairness and effectiveness of the social welfare system. The business environment has been improved by further actions aimed at opening up regulated professions, improving the investment licensing system, lifting regulations that unnecessarily restrict competition in product markets as well as the opening-up the energy markets. Progress in the framework supporting NPL resolution was achieved through further actions related to the effective operationalization of the out-of-court workout scheme and the start-up of electronic auctions. 

The Eurogroup reconfirms the importance of an ambitious comprehensive growth strategy with strong ownership from the Greek authorities. The authorities are invited to finalize it in cooperation with the institutions well before the end of the programme. 

The Eurogroup calls on the Greek authorities to complete the outstanding prior actions as a matter of urgency. The Eurogroup mandates the EWG to verify the full implementation of the outstanding prior actions on the basis of an assessment by the European institutions. This will include an assessment to confirm that a continuous and unimpeded flow of electronic auctions is ensured as well as the completion of government pending actions in the field of privatization. 

Following the full implementation of the prior actions and subject to the completion of national procedures, the ESM governing bodies are expected to endorse the supplemental MoU and approve the disbursement of the fourth tranche of the ESM programme. The fourth tranche under the ESM programme amounting to EUR 6.7 bn will be disbursed to Greece in two disbursements, starting with a first disbursement in February of EUR 5.7 bn to cover debt servicing needs, to allow the further clearance of arrears and to support the build-up of the cash buffer of the Greek State, in order to support Greece's return to the market. The subsequent disbursement for arrears clearance may be approved by the EWG in Spring, subject to a positive reporting by the European Institutions on the clearance of net arrears using also own resources and a confirmation from the European institutions that the unimpeded flow of e-auctions has continued. 

The Eurogroup will now turn its attention to the final stages of the ESM programme, which is expected to end in August 2018. The Eurogroup confirms the start of the technical work by the EWG on the growth-adjustment mechanism, as part of the medium-term debt relief measures to be implemented, if needed, following the successful conclusion of the programme, in line with the agreement in the Eurogroup of 15 June 2017. The Eurogroup invites the European institutions and the IMF to take into account the holistic Greek growth strategy when updating the DSA. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/01/22/eg-statement-on-greece/ 

- FOLLOW UP: Eurogroup chief Centeno: On Greece we have some good news.We have achieved a political agreement on the third review of the ESM programme and on the size of the next tranche of 6.7 billion euros- ESM's Regling: next Greek loan will be split into two tranches

>>> Credit Suisse director jumps to $35.3bn hedge fund in Singapore

Credit Suisse director jumps to $35.3bn hedge fund in Singapore


Millennium Management has hired a Credit Suisse director and food-sector investor as its new head of Asia operations.
Woon Young Jeong joined Izzy Englander’s hedge fund, which manages about $35.3bn in assets, earlier this month, based in Singapore. He was previously a director in prime solutions, electronic (quant prime) at Credit Suisse, according to his online profile.
Jeong’s hire is one of the first major sell-side-to-buy-side moves of 2018 in Singapore. Headhunters expect the hedge-fund job market to be buoyant in the Republic this year, following a strong 2017 performance by Asia-focused funds.
Funds investing in Asia returned 15.6% through November, compared to 5.7% in North America and 6.5% in Europe, according to data provider Eurekahedge. Meanwhile, several new hedge funds are launching in Asia this year. Kennie Atle Johansen, formerly a manager at Millennium, is setting up a quant fund in anticipation of increasing volatility in Asian stocks, reports Bloomberg.
Singapore’s pool of senior people already working at hedge funds is much smaller than Hong Kong’s, so raiding banks (in particular their prime solutions teams) is still common place.
New Millennium recruit Jeong now has a seat on the Asia Management Committee, which marks a comparatively rapid rise into a leadership-level buy-side job following a 10-year banking career. He started out at Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong in 2008. When the US firm went bankrupt a few month later, Jeong transferred to Nomura and worked there until 2012, latterly as an associate, in equity finance, prime services. Jeong then took a job in prime services flow trading at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong and moved to Singapore with the bank about a year later.
Jeong is a keen investor in local starts-ups, particularly in the food and beverage sector. Since 2016 he has been a board member and investor in Winetobe, a wine-focused e-commerce company, and XOLOGY, a sports-nutrition drink firm. Last year he invested in hydroponic vegetables business Sustenir Group.
Recent moves from banks to hedge funds in Asia include Wai Yip, co-head of Asia ex-Japan credit sales at Goldman Sachs, joining Canyon Partners in Hong Kong.
Millennium has been recruiting in London recently, taking on seven senior people since September, including from banks such as Citi and UBS.

Challenges : Comment LVMH a convaincu Hedi Slimane de prendre les commandes de C

Challenges : Comment LVMH a convaincu Hedi Slimane de prendre les commandes de Céline

INTERVIEW Anne Raphaël du cabinet de recrutement Boyden commente l'arrivée du styliste star Hedi Slimane aux commandes de la maison de couture française Céline, qui affiche aujourd'hui un chiffre d'affaires d'un milliard d'euros.
Hedi Slimane en octobre 2012
MARTIN BUREAU / AFP



"Je suis très heureux de retrouver Bernard Arnault (patron de LVMH, ndlr) et de commencer ce projet holistique pour la maison Céline", a déclaré Hedi Slimane dans un communiqué suite à sa nomination en tant que directeur de la création artistique et de l'image de Céline. Fondée en 1945 par Céline Vipiana, cette maison de couture française qui a rejoint le groupe LVMH en 1996 affiche un chiffre d'affaires d'environ un milliard d'euros, soit un chiffre qui a été multiplié par quatre depuis l'année 2009. Et les ambitions sont grandes pour le groupe de Bernard Arnault qui souhaiterait doubler ce chiffre d'affaires avec l'arrivée du styliste star Hedi Slimane qui a quitté avec fracas la maison Saint Laurent en 2016. Anne Raphaël, en charge de la pratique mode dans le cabinet de recrutement Boyden commente pour Challenges l'annonce de cette nomination qui a secoué le monde de la mode et du luxe dimanche dernier.
Comment LVMH a réussi à convaincre une personnalité de la trempe de Hedi Slimane de rejoindre la maison de couture Céline?
Céline est une marque avec de solides fondamentaux qui a besoin de se réinventer. Or, la continuité a payé en termes de consolidation. Je pense que ce qui a profondément mis sous pression toutes les maisons de couture, c'est la fulgurance de Gucci qui a affiché une croissance exceptionnelle pour le secteur. Aujourd'hui, les marques se demandent comment se remettre en quête d'une croissance nouvelle et surtout comment on peut se réajuster face à un vieillissement intrinsèque de ce milieu. Il est toujours plus facile de prendre des risques sur des maisons qui sont de taille intermédiaire ou qui sont elles-mêmes en quête d'un nouveau cycle. Donc cette nomination est un scénario assez gagnant-gagnant. Pour être direct, Hedi Slimane avait quand même besoin de se remettre en scène et il arrive dans un scénario extrêmement souple avec une maison dans laquelle il va pouvoir prendre toute la place qu'il sait prendre. C'est comme les mariages princiers. Il n'y a pas tant de prétendants, d'un côté comme de l'autre. Il n'y a pas beaucoup de maisons qui soient capables de structurer toute une création et une dynamique d'entreprise. Je pense que ça va toujours au-delà de la création, comme Saint Laurent l'avait très bien fait à partir d'un directeur artistique qui a une vision holistique. C'est vraiment sa force.
Selon vous, le fait qu'il puisse continuer à exercer à Los Angeles a joué sur cette nomination?
Comme toujours, ce sont des aller-retours qui prennent en compte beaucoup de paramètres. Le fait qu'il puisse a priori continuer à exercer depuis les Etats-Unis contraint Céline à mettre en place toute une organisation pour tirer le meilleur parti de quelqu'un qui a une vision du management très pointue. Il n'y a pas tant de prétendants qui puissent assumer autant de stress. En termes d'autonomie, c'est ce que Saint Laurent avait pu lui donner et ça a fonctionné. Donc on peut imaginer que LVMH dispose de cette agilité pour s'ajuster à la vision d'Hedi Slimane. D'autant plus qu'ils se connaissent. Il avait déjà travaillé chez Dior, et le directeur de l'époque était Sydney Toledano qui est aujourd'hui le patron de fashion brands, la structure qui coiffe Celine.
Cette conjugaison entre Hedi Slimane et Céline a-t-elle tout pour réussir?
Je pense qu'aujourd'hui, le vrai risque, c'est de ne pas prendre de risques. Et là, on est sur un risque qui est très mesuré par rapport à cette adéquation. Ce qui compte au final, c'est que ce soit une histoire de visions et que cette vision soit partagée